Safer Chemicals Policy

Changing our Nation's Chemicals Laws to Protect Health

The law that regulates industrial chemicals in the United States has never been updated and is failing to protect our families, including children. We've joined with a national coalition called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families to advocate for an updated national system that actually requires chemicals to be tested for safety before they can be used, and that phases out or restricts the worst chemicals. Our nation's main law regulating industrial chemicals should, at a minimum, protect public health and the environment.

This effort to reform that law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), is heating up in 2015 and is actively being discussed in both the US House and the Senate. Driving legislative interest is the broad support across party lines among the general public for action on this issue. However, we have deep concerns with the current Senate bill, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, and believe it would fail to meet our goals for the legislation: to protect the most vulnerable, including children and pregnant women, and protect the Great Lakes. For more information about our position, see our letters to Senator Stabenow and Senator Levin.

The Ecology Center is an active member of a national coalition representing more than 11 million people who want Congress to create common sense limits on toxic chemicals and to reform TSCA.

'Mind the Store' Update

Do you shop at Kroger, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Costco, Home Depot, CVS, Lowe's, BestBuy or Safeway? These are the top ten retailers in the US. The Ecology Center is participating in a campaign to encourage those companies to reformulate the products they sell so they are safe for health and the environment. The effort is making great headway! Several of the distributors including Walmart and Target have committed to reducing the use of hazardous chemicals and reward disclosure by manufacturers! This is a major advance for efforts to drive demand for greener chemicals.To learn more or to join the campaign see Mind the Store.

State Chemicals Policy Advocacy

The Ecology Center founded the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health to organize at the state level to support policies that protect children from toxic chemicals. We've authored important reports, advocated for policy change, and formed alliances with health professionals to protect children's health. Learn more about theMichigan Network for Children's Environmental Health.

Last year, we also launched the nation's first Children's Environmental Health wiki. Learn more about the wiki, or even better, get involved in editing it!

Published on January 26, 2017

News

The Ecology Center’s Healthy Stuff program released a new report, More Than You Bargained For: BPS and BPA in Receipts, in which over 200 paper receipts from 150 businesses were tested for known endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

2017 has seen unprecedented rollbacks on public health and the environment. Ever wonder what you can do? Here are some concrete ways to create positive impact on climate, as well as other critical environmental health issues in 2018.

Retailers remain on the frontlines of consumer discontent with the chemical safety of the products they buy and sell. In its second annual report card on safer chemicals in consumer products, the Mind the Store Campaign found that...

The Healthy Stuff team has been working on researching phthalates (THAL-eights), a plasticizer and solvent. We found that almost all the cheese products we tested were contaminated with phthalates, a hormone disruptor.

The Ecology Center, in partnership with the Car Seat Detox Challenge Campaign and the Learning Disabilities Association of America, delivered over 40,000 signatures to Laurel Hurd, President of Graco Children’s Products and CEO of Global Baby Division at Newell Brands, calling...

Take Action

We rely on car seats to keep children safe. A child may spend hours every week or even every day in a car seat. Alarmingly, 87% of car seats recently tested by the Ecology Center’s Healthy Stuff program contained halogenated flame retardants. We want toxic-free car seats.

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

"We are fighting for reform of our outdated toxic chemical laws, working with retailers to phase out hazardous chemicals from the marketplace and educating the public about ways to protect one’s family from toxic chemicals."